


Breaking the Silence

by TheGriefPolice



Series: How Tony Became a Gibbs [3]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone else is the same, Hurt Tony, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Tony, NCIS AU - Kelly was never born, NCIS AU - Shannon's alive, Tony's so cute oh my god, progress with psychological issues, selective mutism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-14 20:28:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10543862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGriefPolice/pseuds/TheGriefPolice
Summary: Tony's finally settiling in, which can only mean one thing: something bad has to happen. And that come in the form of a social worker who tells them Tony had family and they want to take him in. What will happen when Gibbs decides that's not going to happen.OrShit happens and Tony finally says something! Progress~Directly follows the other two stories in the series, so I recommend you read those, but you don't have to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The next installment! Yey!!!
> 
> Thank you guys for reading and for your support! Hope you enjoy!!!

It was an odd morning, Tony realized. Just one of those days that things seemed to resemble a cocked picture in the sense that they'd be pushed just enough to one side for you to notice there was a difference, but not enough to tell how.

Gibbs had woken him up a littler earlier than normal, made breakfast from everyone, and then dressed for work. Normally, Tony would stay here with Mrs Gibbs and they'd do school work. She had some really cool job that let her stay home all day so she never had to change clothes, but she still liked to. Today, though, she couldn't stay at home.

"Something came up and they need me to come in." She'd told Gibbs that morning, dressing a little nicer than normal.

"I'll just take him to work with me, then." Gibbs said, shrugging on his jacket and sending Tony a smile. "I'm sure Abby would love to see him again."

Tony smiled at that. He liked Abby. She was always super nice to him. Plus, she had a super cool lab where she didn't have to do any field work and still got to put bad guys away!

So Tony dressed and jumped in the back of Gibbs's car for the ride to the Navy yard. Tony had to walk through metal detectors and lots of scary guards again, but it wasn't so bad with Gibbs stand right behind him. The last time Tony had to walk through all of this, his father had gotten aggravated at all the steps and Tony was too nervous to really take anything in.

They went up to the "bull pin," as Gibbs called it, and Tony was allowed to sit at one of the empty desks like a real agent! Gibbs sat down and got set up for work, so Tony occupied himself happily with a couple of pens, a few sheets of blank copy paper, and a few army men he'd forgotten he'd shoved in his jacket pocket until he stuck his hand in there again.

He drew out a battle field, along with a few routes for the men to take to defeat the "aliens." The race was made completely of old office supplies and their mother ship was he large monitor on the desk. Tony made sure the good guys won by giving them what he deemed "Gibbs power." 

It was something Abby had told him about before--how Gibbs was able to crack any person with just a stare from his blue eyes. Tony was a little worried how it'd look on the receiving end of that look, but Abby said it was really fun to just watch it happen. The bad guys would just crumple and tell Gibbs everything. He was kind of like a super hero in that sense. And Tony really liked living with a super hero.

When that game was over, he drew pictures of everyone as they walked by. Kate was the fist one in, so he drew her first. Tony imagined she'd be really good at breaking big bad guys too--just like Gibbs--so he put a dead bad guy under one of her feet and put her arms high in the air with dignity. His drawings were all hard-handed, creating thick, deep lines where he wanted, but his picture still didn't look very good. So he put it to the side and started on the next.

McGee was easier, just kind of like drawing a man, but with a computer in his hand and a video game consul by his feet. Tony was really looking forward to playing with him when they got a chance.

After that, he drew Ducky and Abby, giving the doctor his tell-tale bow tie and the scientist a web tattoo on her neck.

He was pretty proud of himself, if he was honest. So he went on and drew Gibbs, Shannon, and him all standing in front of the house, making sure to label every person as he put in the whole team. It was a lot of fun to do. He didn't used to have so many people to draw.

Gibbs watched the boy out of the corner of his eye, making sure he wasn't getting into anything. But he seemed oblivious to the world as everyone moved around him. He looked so focused that Gibbs was melting with affection inside.

It was only after Abby spoke that Gibbs realized she was there. "You better be careful who sees that look, boss man. They might think you really do have a heart."

Gibbs glared at her playfully. "And if anyone finds out, I'm telling Tony he can have Herbert."

"You wouldn't dare." Abby said, eyes narrowed.

Gibbs stared at her straight faced. "Try me."

Abby would have said something had it not been for the raggedy looking man walking into the pin with a visitor's bags snapped onto his worn jacket. 

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs?" He asked.

Gibbs stood up and walked around the desk, stoping the man from getting too close to Tony. "Why do you want."

"Are you Gibbs?" The man asked. A nod in confirmation had the man exposing himself. "I am John Smith from Social Services, the case worker of one Anthony DiNozzo Junior."

Gibbs say Tony's head pop up at his name. The man looked over to Abby, and, with a wave of his hand, Abby knew what to do.

"What do you need?" Gibbs asked in the same voice he used on suspects.

"I've come to inform you that we have found an aunt and uncle from his father's side that have been made aware of Anthony's situation. They are coming in to meet him tomorrow." Smith said. "If the meeting goes well and they decide to take him, he will be going with them."

Gibbs could feel his face fall into the kind of anger he reserved only for very unpleasant suspects. "The hell he will."

"It's not in our control, mister Gibbs. By Law, Anthony must go with the closest living realities if they are willing to take him." Smith said, face straight with a small hint of hostility.

"They will be here tomorrow morning. We can bring them to the office." Smith let out a sigh. "Please ensure Anthony's appearance."

With that, Smith looked to Tony with a nod and walked back to the elevator.

"Gibbs," Abby said, eyes wide and worried. "You're not going to--"

"Not a chance in hell." Gibbs said, cutting her off. He looked to Tony, wiping the anger away and burying it deep for now. "It's okay, Tony."

He walked to the boy and wrapped him in a hug. Tony leaned into the touch, falling into a silent cry. All Gibbs could do was run his hand through the boy's hair.

Tony didn't want to leave. He knew his father's family, even if he only meet them once. They weren't nice people. None of them were. They just wanted money and power. Tony liked the Gibbses way better. They didn't have lots of money or a big house, but it was the best home Tony's ever lived in. It was warm and it was happy and it was like living in a fairy tale. He didn't want to leave!

-/-/-/-

Later that night saw Gibbs and Shannon sitting in the couch, trying to wrack their brains for something. Legal or otherwise.

"We can't let them take him, Jethro." Shannon said, tears welling up in her eyes. "He's ours. He belongs here."

"We'll figure something out, I promise." Gibbs said, kissing her forehead. "He's not leavening any time soon."

And--oh--how Shannon wished those words to be true with all her heart.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the bit of a cliffhanger! But I've been making this way too fluffy!!! Thank you for ready and enjoy!!
> 
> Please comment! I like hearing yourall's feed back!

Gibbs and Shannon made sure to have Tony up early again. Shannon helped him get dressed and made sure to give him and extra long hug. 

"Don't worry, okay." She said, pushing a few hairs out of his face. "Jethro and I are going to make sure we stay together. We're a family now. We won't let anything change that."

Tony nodded and hugged her back, then let go and followed Gibbs out the door.

It felt like an eternity as they drove to the Navy yard. Each tree seemed to pass in slow motion, seeming to droop more than normal. Even the sky didn't look happy with the big gray clouds that covered the normally blue sky. Tony kind of felt like the whole world wanted to cry right alone with him. And--boy--did he want to cry.

All of last night and this morning he wanted to cry. He didn't want to leave and now these stupid people might take away everything he'd ever wanted. And for what? "Blood relations?" If there was anything To t had learned lately, it was that blood doesn't mean anything. Just because they're your family doesn't mean they'll treat you with kindness and love.

When they parked in the yard, Tony didn't want to get out of the car. Even so, his door swung open and there was Gibbs's hand held out for him to take. Normally, Tony wouldn't have taken it. DiNozzos didn't need their hands held. But, today, he broke the rule and took the man's outstretched hand. He was breaking a lot of those rules lately.

Gibbs led him through security, all of the officers just working around the death grip Tony help on the man. When they got up stairs, he saw Abby sitting at what he was now claiming as his desk.

She smiled at him and Tiny tried his best to return it, but there was no heart. Just a fake smile on an unwanted boy.

"How you doing, Tony?" She asked when he got closer.

Tony shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the ground. Gibbs squeezed his hand and Tony looked up at him.

"They'll be here in an hour, okay?" 

Tony nodded his head. He was a little surprised when Gibbs kneeled down to his eye level and gave a hug.

"We'll figure this out. Promise."

Tony sat at his desk for that whole hour, not really feeling like doing anything but still drawing. Abby was sitting next to him with a high lighter playing a odd version of boxes. 

She'd draw dots all over a piece of paper in odd patters and they had to make a four sided shape that did it have any of the other dots inside. To do this, they each took a turn drawing a line, just like in the normal game. When a box was made whole, they colored it in with highlighter. Tony's was orange and Abby's was yellow. So far, Tony had a pretty good lead.

Any joy from the game was quickly winged from his system with the man from yesterday walking in. Two people followed him, both dressed nicely but with pompous looks about their face.

The woman had her nose stuck in the air with a pink feathered hat that topped her too-blonde-to-be-real hair. Her face was sharp, but so much so that it didn't have the attractiveness it normally did. And with the pink pencil skirt that matched her hat, it was almost too much. It was only the zebra stripped petty coat that pulled away from all the pink, but it didn't save the outfit by any means.

The man had on a simple suit that looked like it'd been pulled straight from a bad seventies movie--long, sharp collar and all. His hair was slicked back with way too much jell and it was defiantly dyed too. Tony guessed the guy didn't want people guessing his real age with the gray was was defiantly underneath the many layers of hair products. His cocky smile wasn't fooling anyone.

The social worker, himself, was almost no better. His salt and pepper hair stood in near every direction, and the dark circuses under his eyes showed a few-too-many late nights. His jacket looked to be made from an old burlap bag with how thread-bare it was, and he had pants to match.

Abby seemed to agree with Tony on the couple's looks as she gaged and made a motion towards the trash can. That was the first real smile he'd given all day.

"Gibbs?" Smith asked, looking to Abby for an answer.

"Meeting room A." Abby's said with a bit of venom in her voice.

Smith nodded his thanks and walked to find the room, assuming there would be no help from anyone else.

When the people were out of ear shot, Abby looked to Tony. "You ready little man?"

Tony was half tempted to shake his head no, run out of here, and hide some place for the rest of the day. But he knew they'd be back. And they'd keep coming back until Tony didn't run and hide. Instead, he pushed himself off the chair and followed Abby to the conference room.

Gibbs was already sitting in a chair looking over a file, so Tony took the seat next to him and tried not to fidget too much.

"Don't worry," Gibbs said. "Were going to be okay."

Tony nodded his head just as the door was opened and the social worker, his aunt, and his uncle all walked into the room.

"Agent Gibbs," Smith said with a nod. "This is Lester and Silvia DiNozzo."

Gibbs stood, but didn't reach out to shake Lester's hand. They all took their seats and the meeting officially started.

"So you are this Gibbs we've been hearing about?" Lester asked.

Gibbs nodded his head, a blank look on his face.

When Lester realized there would be no other reply, he turned to Tony. "Anthony. Good to see you again, sport."

Tony's face twisted in disgust at the nick-name. No way in hell did he want to live with someone who called him that.

"Hey, why ain't he talkin'?" The woman asked with a deep Jersey accent.

"Tony is suffering from selective mutism." John explained, opening his files. "To start this off, I must ask that everyone here be civil. We only want what's best for Anthony."

"If it's selective, why doesn't he just turn it off?" The woman asked, lips smacking every time she talked and royally getting on Tony's nerves.

"That's not how it work." The social worker explained before Gibbs had a chance to. "Now, to other matters, please. Anthony had been living with agent Gibbs and his wife, Shannon, for almost three weeks, now. He seems to be doing well, but is not yet enrolled in any school--"

"--My wife is temporarily home schooling him." Gibbs cut it. "She's a teacher and we've already filled out the forms. It should be in his file."

"Homeschooling?" Lester asked with a twist to his face. "How's the boy supposed to socialize with kids his own age?"

"My wife and I find it to be best for him right now. We hope to enroll him at a local elementary school when he has recovered enough." Gibbs spoke, words sharp.

"Recovered from what?" Silvia asked. "He looks fine to me."

"Some injuries don't show on skin," Gibbs bit back. These people were really starting to wear his resolve thin.

"On with the case," Smith cut in again. "Your coworkers speak highly of you in regards of Anthony. They say you treat him very kindly."

Here, Gibbs could hear Smith's voice soften just a bit. He smiled. "Thank you."

"What I want to know is how you all are prepared to support Anthony if he does come into your custody." Smith turned the question to Lester.

Lester let out a sicker. "Well, first wed enroll him in a school. Boarding would be best, we believe. Get him out in his own to grow his independence."

"Yeah, and then we'd get a new house closer to him so he can live with us over breaks and vacations." Silvia chimed in.

Gibbs's brow furrowed. "That sounds like a lot of money to be dropping."

"Oh, well, that's not a problem." Lester leered. "After all, the boy's loaded."

And that was the straw that broke the camel's back. 

"You just want him for his father's money?" Gibbs asked, absolutely revolted by the people sitting in front of him. "He's not a bank! Tony is a child! Not a thing to be used!"

"As if you have dipped in on some of that DiNozzo fortune." Silvia accused, hand waving in the air dismissively.

"I haven't, because that money is not mine to take." Gibbs growled.

"We are adults," Smith cut in, " Stop this now!"

Tony sat in his chair, reading in on himself with every loud word. When people were angry, it tended to end one way. And the amount that Tony didn't want that outweighed the amount he wanted to seem big and strong. Right then, he wanted to just curl up in a ball on his bed and lay there forever. He wasn't paying attentions to what was being said very well, but then he heard Lester say something about Gibbs and he tuned his ears in once more.

"You must be some big, strong man, then, huh, Gibbs." Lester spat. "I bet you just lock that annoying little pest in a closet just like his father used to. That kid is only good for one thing and it's his father's money."

Gibbs would never do something like that! And never once had the man ever asked for anything from Tony that he couldn't give. He was the nicest person Tony had ever met and no one was going to talk bad about him!

Tony stood and, which every ounce of force he had, kicked Lester in the leg.

Lester let out a small groan of pain, eyes locked on the boy with deadly hatred.

The whole room went silent. Tony knew he'd almost been forgotten, and that was what gave him the advantage. He'd been able to walk around the table without anyone paying attention.

"You little pice of shit," Lester said scathingly. His arm was raised into the air and, before Tony knew it, then hand was coming down.

Tony braces, squeezing his eyes shut and trying his best to dodge, but the hit never came. He vaguely remembered screaming something, but when he opened his eyes, a hand was tightly grasping that of Lester.

"Get out of my office." Gibbs said, pulling Lester to his feet and shoving the man towards the door.

"And if I ever see you again, I will make you wish you had never been born." Gibbs's voice dripped with venom and he pulled Tony to him. "You can count that as a promise."

The couple sent daggers towards Gibbs, but left the room all the same.

Tony didn't realize there were tears falling down his face until Gibbs pulled him into a hug and was shushing him. 

"I believe this is over." Gibbs said, picking. Tony up and walking out of the room.

Tony happily tucked his face into Gibbs's neck and hugged the man tightly. Gibbs had saved him, just like he promised. Gibbs didn't let anything bad happen, just like he promised. Gibbs wasn't going to let those people take him, just like he promised. 

"It's okay, Tony. I'm right here." Gibbs said, rocking side to side and running a hand through his hair. "It's all okay."

It took Tony a while to settle down, wiping his nose on the back in his hand as laying his head on Gibbs's shoulder. He was tired, and Gibbs was warm. Another rule broken, but Tony was starting to really not care about all those stupid rules his dad had made. Besides, how was he supposed to follow them when no one else seemed to.

"It was good to hear your voice." Gibbs said affectionally. "Not really how I wanted it to happen, though."

His voice? But he didn't... or did he? When he screamed? He did... he'd screamed for Gibbs. He'd screamed for help. And, for the first time ever, it had come.

Maybe he could do the talking thing again. It had worked once, right? Maybe he could just ask for one more thing? He'd be done after that, he promised. Just one more thing...

Gibbs rocked back and forth in a separate room, letting Tony just be for a moment. The boy was nearly asleep, and Gibbs kind of loved that; Loved that he was trusted so much by this little form in his arms. Tony had called for Gibbs to help him, and, though he was more that livid at what had happened, he was happy that Tony had someone to reach out to now.

The man was so caught up in his own thoughts, he almost missed the small, broken voice that came from his arms.

"Home?"

Gibbs felt his chest swell and hugged Tony tightly. "That sounds like a really good plan, buddy. Let's go home."

No one mentioned the form on Gibbs's chest as he gathered his things from his desk and nodded a dismissal to his team. They wished him a good day, and he was off.

Gibbs felt bad that he had to put Tony down in the back seat, but there wasn't really much of another option. It was the safest place for the eight-year-old to be.

When they got home, Gibbs picked him right back up again and didn't let go as the walked into the house.

Shannon was at the door, sending Gibbs worried looks the whole time.

"I'll tell you later." He mouthed and gestured to a blanket on the back in the couch.

Shannon grabbed it and wrapped him up as Gibbs sat down on the couch and leaned back. They sat in silence for a while until they were sure Tony was asleep, and the. Gibbs explained the whole thing.

Shannon was appalled, feeling like she may throw up for a second. When the story was over, though she was slightly thrilled to hear that Tony has said a whole two words that day. 

-/-/-/-

Tony woke up slowly, feeling warm and comfortable. But the smell of something cooking brought him into the world of the fully conscious. He was laying on Gibbs on the couch, tucked close to his chest. Gibbs was snoring lightly, telling Tony he was asleep. 

So Tony gently slid off the man and made way into the kitchen when Shannon was standing over a hot stove. She turned around to reach for something, and nearly jumped the feet into the air.

"Tony!" She smiled, walking over to plant a kiss on his head. "You're like some kind of spy!"

Tony smiled half-heartedly, then his eyes landed on the chart handing on the wall.

Shannon had turned around, humming to herself as she cooked, and Tony walked over to the wall. He took the marker in his hand and pulled off the cap, writing down a few things in either side of his "like/don't like" list. It was a little hard since he was short and it's been placed at eye level for Shannon and Gibbs, but Tony managed to get a few (probably misspelled) words up there.

Dinner had been an easy meal of homemade ravioli that Tony was starting to think of as his new favorite food. And then he was tucked into bed and given a kiss on his forehead.

When Gibbs walked out of the room, he smiled at Shannon and let out a relieved sigh. 

"You know what they say about hitting rock bottom." Shannon smiled, waving her hand for her husband to follow her. They walked into the kitchen and stared at the chart.

On the dislike side, the names Lester and Silvia had been added, which was no surprise to anyone. The like side, however, had many additions. The names Kate, Abby, McGee, and Ducky had been written next to two names that were more squashed together. Shannon was misspelled with only two n's, but Gibbs was pushed right under it. 

"Why am I just Gibbs, but your Shannon?" Gibbs asked jokingly.

Shannon patted her husbands arm. "Because that's what everyone calls you. Just wait until he starts taking after Abby and calls you boss man."

Gibbs rolled his eyes playfully. "Don't even say that."

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos always appreciated, but never expected!


End file.
